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Greater moderations

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  • Keating, John
  • Valcarcel, Victor

Abstract

Using a 219-year sample, we find that the US output growth and inflation volatilities fell by 60% and 76%, respectively, from 1945 until the mid-1960s. This Postwar Moderation is more substantial than the Great Moderation. The largest reduction in inflation volatility occurred during the Classical Gold Standard period. Our empirical model implies that aggregate supply accounts for most of the changes in output growth volatility while aggregate demand accounts for most of the changes in inflation volatility.

Suggested Citation

  • Keating, John & Valcarcel, Victor, 2012. "Greater moderations," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 168-171.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:115:y:2012:i:2:p:168-171
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2011.12.020
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    9. Christopher A. Sims & Tao Zha, 2006. "Were There Regime Switches in U.S. Monetary Policy?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 54-81, March.
    10. Giorgio E. Primiceri, 2005. "Time Varying Structural Vector Autoregressions and Monetary Policy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 72(3), pages 821-852.
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    12. Peter M. Summers, 2005. "What caused the Great Moderation? : some cross-country evidence," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 90(Q III), pages 5-32.
    13. Keating, John W & Nye, John V, 1998. "Permanent and Transitory Shocks in Real Output: Estimates from Nineteenth-Century and Postwar Economies," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 30(2), pages 231-251, May.
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    1. Keating, John W. & Valcarcel, Victor J., 2015. "The Time-Varying Effects Of Permanent And Transitory Shocks To Real Output," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 477-507, April.
    2. Valcarcel, Victor J., 2013. "Exchange rate volatility and the time-varying effects of aggregate shocks," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 822-843.
    3. Max Soloschenko & Enzo Weber, 2021. "Trend-Cycle Interactions and the Subprime Crisis: Analysis of US and Canadian Output," Journal of Business Cycle Research, Springer;Centre for International Research on Economic Tendency Surveys (CIRET), vol. 17(2), pages 109-128, November.
    4. Stephanos Papadamou & Moïse Sidiropoulos & Eleftherios Spyromitros, 2016. "Central bank transparency and exchange rate volatility effects on inflation-output volatility," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 5(4), pages 125-133.
    5. Keating, John W. & Valcarcel, Victor J., 2017. "What's so great about the Great Moderation?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 115-142.
    6. María Dolores Gadea & Ana Gómez-Loscos & Gabriel Perez-Quiros, 2015. "The great moderation in historical perspective. Is it that great?," Working Papers 1527, Banco de España.
    7. Carstensen, K. & Salzmann, L., 2017. "The G7 business cycle in a globalized world," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA), pages 134-161.
    8. John W. Keating & Victor J. Valcarcel, 2012. "What's so Great about the Great Moderation? A Multi-Country Investigation of Time-Varying Volatilities of Output Growth and Inflation," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 201204, University of Kansas, Department of Economics.
    9. Benjamín García, 2016. "Zero Lower Bound Risk and Long-Term Inflation in a Time Varying Economy," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 796, Central Bank of Chile.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    The Great Moderation; The Postwar Moderation; Time-varying parameters; Stochastic volatility; Structural vector autoregression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E65 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes

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